Thesis advisor: Marc L. Snapper / Tandem Reactions have proven themselves to be useful reactions for the synthesis of highly complex materials. Ruthenium alkylidenes are shown to be useful precursors for the development of new tandem processes. First, a new tandem metathesis/hetero-Pauson-Khand process is developed using Grubbs' second generation catalyst. Next, various metatheis/olefin isomerization processes are explored. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.